Glued or heat-sealed cap for resealing test tubes for clinical analyses

ABSTRACT

This invention refers to a glued or heat-sealed cap for resealing test tubes for clinical analyses which can be easily perforated and permits the application of a second cap.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention pertains to a cap for RESEALING test tubes for chemical analyses after they have undergone processing in automatic or manual clinical chemical analysers.

BACKGROUND ART

It is known that the analysis of bodily fluids usually takes place in a general clinical laboratory; the sample, for example blood taken from a vein, is collected in a test tube which is capped and labelled and then sent to a laboratory, where the contents are analysed using suitable apparatuses, with or without the addition of reagents.

At this point the analysis could be considered terminated if challenges to or doubts regarding the results of the analyses did not arise in a significant percentage of cases

In fact, it may occur that analyses have to be repeated, which means that the sample must be preserved for a given number of days prior to its disposal. Samples may also be preserved in the event of contestation by patients or, more generally speaking, for medical-legal reasons.

Test tubes containing already analysed samples, obviously without the original seal, plug or screw cap, previously removed to enable penetration of the sampling needle, are collected in multiple supports which are hastily packed and placed in special cold storage compartments. Therefore, the prevention of fluid spills is left up to the adherence of plastic wrap or precarious coverings wrapped all around the support. The risk of spillage or leaks in the event of an accident is thus very high, as is the risk of personnel being contaminated by sometimes dangerously infected samples.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

To avoid this and other problems, a system has been devised to RESEAL test tubes of any type and size containing already analysed samples, after the analysis itself and prior to storage, in order that the test tube container can be handled in complete safety. This solution is obviously also useful for the disposal of waste from hospitals or laboratories which, when open test tubes are involved, can create hazards for personnel who manually transfer such products from the laboratory to waste containers. These and other aims are accomplished by the device of the present invention, basically consisting in a cap to be applied on the mouth of the test tube; the cap is composed of a piece of aluminium foil, which may be of different shapes, such as to adhere, following a heat sealing process, to the edge or side or both test tube surfaces, thereby sealing it perfectly. The adhesion of the aluminium cap to the glass or plastic of the test tube is achieved thanks to special adhesive lacquers present on the contact surface of the aluminium foil. A similar lacquer can also be applied on the top surface of the cap so that in the unlikely, but not impossible event of the sample undergoing further analyses, the same test tube can again be perforated using the sampling needle and later RESEALED.

In a second implementation of the invention, the sealed closure of the test tube could be achieved using a paper, plastic or metal label and a cold or hot gluing procedure This solution is applicable, as previously illustrated, for the heat-sealing aluminium cap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

These and other characteristics will now be further clarified in relation to a simple design configuration of the invention. The description herein serves purely illustrative purposes and does not restrict the scope of this patent.

Reference is made to the enclosed drawings in which:

FIG. 1

Approximately illustrates the sequence of operations

FIGS. 2-3-4

Show the aluminium foil constituting the cap applied on a test tube, viewed in cross section and from above, in three different shapes.

FIGS. 5-6-7

Show the layer of paper constituting the label applied on a test tube, viewed in cross section and from above, in three different shapes.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

1 indicates the test tube containing the sample 2, 3 the original cap; FIG. 1′ shows the test tube with its original cap removed so that the sampling needle 4 can penetrate it, FIG. 1″ shows the analysed test tube surmounted by cap 5; FIG. 1′″ shows the test tube RESEALED by cap 5′, sealed and possibly moulded over the mouth. 6 indicates the container of resealed test tubes ready for refrigeration, 7 the layer of aluminium forming the body of the cap, 8 the bottom layer of lacquer, 9 the ink layer of the stamp, 8′ the top layer of lacquer.

10 indicates the paper or plastic label, 11 the layer of glue on the underside, 12 the stamped ink layer 

1. A heat-sealed aluminum lid for resealing test tubes for clinical analyses, the lid comprising: a deformable foil placed on an uncapped mouth of a test tube, the mouth being of any material, shape and size, with a sharp- or rounded-edge or threaded mouth, wherein the foil is comprised of a lid body of aluminum or another similar metallic material, said lid body having a symmetrical shape, square, round, polygonal, or ovoid, and being positioned to cover the mouth of the test tube and wrap over part of a side surface of the test tube; and on a surface of said foil in contact with the mouth of the test tube, a heat-sealing adhesive lacquer, being compatible with a material of the test tube and having an identical other layer of lacquer on a top surface of the foil, in direct contact with the aluminum of said lid body, when a stamp is present on the foil, the other layer positioned above the stamp.
 2. (canceled)
 3. (canceled) 